Friday, July 12, 2013

W.A. Slaughter vs. Randy Peyton Bluebonnet wars

Bluebonnet landscape paintings have been revered, prodded
and poked, coveted and chastised; an ongoing joke of over-produced Sunday
painters- a favorite category to paint of “holiday” painters.

However, the history of such a genre of painting has deep
roots in Texas and especially San Antonio. Home to the great blue bonnet
painters like the Onderdonks, Salinas, Wood, Slaughter and a small legion of
others, Texas takes pride in its namesake in Art History, knowing it has
inspired these great artists to produce such magnificent work.

Along with this museum collected success story comes positive
growth of this art form with subsequent generations of painters that have
studied the Texas State flower masters and excelled the painting style to new
levels; clearing the way for bluebonnets to be well-respected within the
artistic landscape of modern painting.

Randy Peyton

In a compare and contrast study, two paintings back-to-back
by master painter W.A. Slaughter and sought after contemporary painter Randy
Peyton show a time honored scholarly application of technique, application, and
compositional study; with Peyton playing the role of student as he methodically
mimics the aesthetics of a signature impressionistic painting.

Slaughter’s rolling countryside landscape eases down into a
valley, exposing the rustic rooftop of a barn; weathered from decades and
decades of sun drenched Texas weather. Peyton’s rooftop shows same pitch, same rustic
quality, adding modern amenities like a metal roof and chimney, but unchanged, the
rolling angles of land work in the same manner- providing movement for our eye
to follow as we move from foreground to background in both paintings.

Live Oaks spot the sun bleached Texas grasses with Slaughter’s
painted in more subtle approach with minimal contrasts in shadow and detail,
while Peyton’s stark shadows create more depth- showing the tree’s character.

Slaughter’s bluebonnets are more like the original Onderdonk
style, with cool blues spotted with white highlights, while Peyton’s bluebonnets
demand more attention. They are painted
text-book Impressionistic, but are detailed in a way that anchors them more to
the ground than Slaughter’s.

W.A. Slaughter

Cactus litter the ground in both paintings, but again detail
and shadow are treated different; each artist giving grace to the solar
qualities of light, playing color on color with more emphasis on the direct
sunlight, its angle in the sky and the projected shade it transmits onto the
vegetation around it.

The Texas sky, a signature trait of these parts is often portrayed
as ever expanding. However, Slaughter
attacks his heavens with billowing clouds that compliment his overall painterly
palette. But, Peyton’s hard edged
aesthetic does not lend itself to a detailed atmosphere. Peyton’s clouds lack the softness projected
by Slaughter’s applications. On the other hand, owning his own style, Peyton
works in his own artistic voice while paying homage.

And not in any way to be overlooked, Peyton has indeed
studied intently on artists like Slaughter and Onderdonk, among others, and his
dedication to craft has proven a successful career in the fine arts.

Now semi-retired, Peyton might one day sit among the great
blue bonnet painters of Texas as the next generation attempts to tackle such a
widely recognizable Texas icon.

Look for both paintings available for sale at J.R. Mooney
Galleries of Fine Art.